viewpoint" stay right here to enter "the war room" with jennifer grandholm. thank for watching. tonight, in the war room party at clooney's house. byob, it ain't. the president attends a record-breaking fundraiser the day after his historic announcement on gay marriage. but the right is not sitting tight. >> the president's theme will be doing -- team will be doing everything they can to hold up shiney objects designed to take people's eye off of the ball. >> the g.o.p. line of attack the president is celebrity in chief. the big question is: will it work? ♪ so we are going to start on a

little bit lighter note tonight. don't get me wrong. i love the war room. but there is somewhere else that i would rather be tonight. well, i don't really want to get dressed up. i don't want to compete with the professional red-carpeters but i would love to be a fly on the wall at george clooney's shouldersoldout fundraiser for president obama. it is held at his los angeles home. tickets were selling for as much as $40,000 a pop. and there are estimates that the bash is going to add nearly $15 million to president obama's campaign coffers this evening fundraiser went from event of the month to event of the year thanks to president obama's announcement in support of gay marriage yesterday. now, republicans, of course have a very different reaction to the president's statement. they call this monumental moment to the issue of our times a distraction. they tried to shift the focus to a topic that they are more comfortable talking about.

take a license. >> aren't there issues of significance you would like to talk about? the economy? he the economy. >> they don't want us talking being what this will president has done to jobs and the economy and our country as a whole. >> this is a distraction. president obama does not have a record that he can stand on. >> every single week whether it's the student loan issue this week or now this gay marriage issue. next week, it will be spellings. every single week they will strut out another issue to avoid having to talk about the economy. >> president and democrats who talk about this all they want. the fact is the american people are focused on our economy. >> well, i think you are going to find throughout this campaign season that the president's team will be doing everything in their power to try and hold up various shiney objects designed to take people's eye off of the ball. >> okay, mitt, you think gay marriage is a distraction and you want to talk about the economy? i will take the bait. let's talk about the economy. just the facts.

so let's just start with your experience in the private sector. when you were running bain capital, your objective, of course, was always roi, return on investment. it was not jobs. the wall street general actually examined 77 businesses that bain invested in while you led bain. 22% of those businesses either filed for bankruptcy, reorganization, or closed their doors with major job losses. but, bain did produce stellar returns for its investors. you are a fix-it guy all right. you know how to buy companies and strip them and flip them. the next was in for profits, but not for jobs. and that is the economic experience that you are running on to be president of the united states. do you still want to talk about the economy? so let me talk to the viewers.

if i ask you whether democratic presidents or republican presidents created more jobs i wonder what you would say. well, just this week bloomberg news, which is far from a liberal mouthpiece provided a clearance. here it is. over the last 50 years, private-sector jobs increased much much more under democratic administrations than republican ones. are you surprised? there were 42 million jobs added in 23 years of democratic presidents versus only 24 million jobs added in 28 years of republican rule. you get that? democratic presidents created almost twice as many jobs in less amount of time. now, what about the market? surely under republicans, the market presidents the stockmarket, fared better than

under those anti-business democrats? well lo and behold stocks invested under democrats produced nine times the return than during republican control of the white house. but wait. there is more. bloomberg also reported today that the united states posted a budget surplus of $60 million in one month, april, and the stock market has rebounded past its pre-collapsed high and dallas says that daily consumer spending in april was at one of the highest levels in recent years. and "the wall street journal" and the financial times have reported that over $500,000,000,000 in state budget gaps and job openings have been rising a sign of employer confidence. now, we all know that jobs aren't being added as fast as we

would like. but what is mitt romney offering? the same old, same old policies tried under republican presidents for the last 50 years. it was painful to here mitt romney apologize today for a bullying incident when in high school. perhaps you heard it but i was wondering if we want mit rom ney to have to apologize in 20 years for the dumb prank that he played on america, that silly time he carelessly ruined our economy doing what the other boys were doing, just doing what george bush was doing. so, sure mitt i am happy to talk about the economy. but i am going to guess that you won't like that very much either. now for a peek behind the curtain of what's going on in the senate races.

the senate races -- because we want to make sure that the senate races have reacted to the president's announcement in a way that we can understand here to explain how the president's stance on gay marriage could impact key races in the fall is guy seful the executive director of the democratic senate campaign. guy, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> you bet. so my question is: could this gay marriage debate actually further poll arrest eyes congress?ize congress? flaming tensions within the moderates and extremes within both parties? >> let me say that i am percentage proud of our president for making the decision that he did. my partner and i celebrated yesterday and last night and are thankful for his decision. we are also proud of the fact that in the united states

senate, it's senate democrats that have led the way on issues like don't ask don't tell on employment non-disdescription and a majority of our caucus has already come out in favor of marriage equality. we are also, as you know, jennifer, a party that is a big tent with all types of opinions and points of view. and i think it's a sharp contrast to what the republicans are offering. i agree with you. we are happy to talk about the economy. but we think that this president and this senate can walk and chew gum at the same time. and that is important that we talk about issues that are important to all americans. >> well i congratlation you too. i think it's a terrific bit of news as well. >> yes. >> the question is in addition to the presidential race which we have looked at how does this play out across the country in terms of these key senate races? and the debate is really putting pressure, i think, on democrats maybe in tight senate races like, you know, senator casey and claire mccaskill of missouri

and bill nelson who haven't endorsed gay marriage. i am wondering, have those senators sort of lost their cover now that the president has come out in favor of gay marriage? and how will that impact those key races? >> i don't think so. look, the bottom line is that even though members of our caucus and can dates that are running around the country who haven't expressed firm support for marriage equality are very clear and on the record that they believe that rights like hospital visiontation, being able to visit your partner or a loved one when they are in the hospital, that these types of rights should be protected. and i would also note that it's the democrats that have a candidate that has the opportunity to become the first openly gay or lesbian senator in our current tree's history. i will let senator casey and mccask ill speak for themselves. senator mccaskill spoke out

strongly on this issue. i am confident we have a lot to be proud of in our party and in the senate and we, too, are eager to talk about this and to talk about the economy. the the other senate race i would mention, jennifer which this race provides a sharp contrast is the senate race in massachusetts where senator brown has referred to gay and lesbian issues as a side show as things that aren't important. he continually points out it's well-settled law in massachusetts. he is right. what he doesn't tell you is that he opposes marriage equality around the country. it's one of many issues where elizabeth warren is on the side of the people in massachusetts and scott brown is in opposition. >> so democratic congressional campaign committee chairman steve israel said today that obama's stanchion on gay marriage is not that relevant to the house races and he encouraged candidates to let people know how you feel and move on. i am assuming you would agree

that we have got, you know, to make sure that people are clearly in favor, i think, of equality. but then move on. >> yeah. look. i think there are a range of issues that our country cares about. they are a struggle. and they are concerned about republican attempts to flash cover. every single one oft may not be -- our candidate and the republican candidate in nevada paul ryan the most important thing he has ever done in the united states congress or the united states senate. so we are eager to clearly confidently draw the contrast between republicans and democrats on issues around jobs on making sure that the middle class can survive, that they can deal with the squeeze they are facing by lowering incomes and rising costs. again, i would go back to

massachusetts, at the primary example. scott brown will do anything and everything he can to run away from his record of supporting higher taxes for the middle class and lower taxes for the very wealthiest americans. and we want to draw that contrast. we want to talk about those issues. but we won't run from our position like women's health gay issues or any others that we feel are important to other people around the country. >> yeah. so tonight, on the war room we are sort of looking at this we are looking at the fallout of the decision. could the senate moving to repeal doma on the flip side energize the base? could that help progressive democrats? >> as you probably know the judiciary committee has had hearings on that issue. many of our candidates are in favor, including bob geary in nebraska of the reversal. we are eager to have that conversation. as i mentioned before we don't see it as an either/or. we believe we can do multiple things at one time. and while we are committed to causes around equality we also want to make sure that we are

not walking away. and that we are holding mitt romney and republicans around the country accountable for their drafterous record. you know unlike 2010, jennifer, this election is going to be a choice between the two parties and their vision for our country. whether it's women's health, whether it's how theo get our economy moving again. whether it's how we take care of the middle class. and we are confident when voters see that choice clearly that they are going to vote for democrats around the country. >> so we saw dick lugar get primaried out earlier this week. are we seeing a resurgence of the extreme wing of the republican party and that could bode well for democrats? >> i think it's a great question. the indiana race is obviously one that's gotten a lot of attention. and i would point out that the republican in that race richard muordoch is probably one of the few can dates running okay a campaign of more partnershipisanship and i don't know how it's possible to have more in

washington, d.c. but i am confident voters in indiana and around the country believe we need two parties that actually work together in washington. and it's in sharp contrast to congressman joe donnelly in that state. jennifer, it's not just about establishment republicans running against tea party republicans. it's about republicans around the country, reversing decades old positions because they think they have to in order to win the republican primaries. a grated example is geoff blake in arizona. he has supported comprehensive immigration reform his entire career. and then he announced for the united states senate and then within 48 hours he refersed his position. i don't think it was a change of heart. i think it was a change of politics. and what we are finding in races across the country is the republican party that's moving to the tea party extreme and alienating themselves from independent voters in all of our senate races. >> i hope citizens wake up and realize if they want to get something done in washington

they have to send people who are willing to compromise and move forward. >> that's guys. thank you for joining us inside the war room the executive director of the democratic senate campaign committee. up next what's more important in a presidential campaign? minutae or the moment? we are going to get one answer to that from the man of the moment. >> that's next and it's only in the war room. >>(narrator) gavin newsom, lieutenant governor of california, and former mayor of san francisco is coming to current tv. >>every night on cable news networks everyone's focusing on what's wrong. i want this show to move past that. i love creative people, and with all the vexing problems we have we need creative thinking. >>(narrator) with interviews with notables from silicon valley, hollywood, and beyond. >>at the end of the day this show's simple. it's about ideas. ideas are the best politics. ideas can bring us together. >>(narrator) the gavin newsom show. premiers friday may 18th. only on current tv.

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we're the idea nobody wants to hear. until the truth reveals itself. and there's only one place you'll find us. is ♪♪ >> big breaking news in the from the white house. >> at a certain point, i just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married.

>> well for insight and perspective on how important yesterday's quote moment will be in the twelve campaign, from new york, we are joined by university of california political science professor samuel hopkins. he knows a thing or two about presidential campaigning for his time advising cartin clinton and gore. and his new book "the candidate," what it takes to win, hold the white house came out last week. hot off of the press, professor, welcome inside the war room. >> it's a pleasure to be here governor. >> great to have you. he specially in light of the significant event. and so from your perspective as now sort of the presidential historian of these things how significant of a moment was the announcement on gay marriage for the president's re-election? >> well i think it was absolutely essential given what i have seen in other campaigns in looking back the president had to do this before his convention. and he had to -- and it was

probably a very good idea given the past to do it before he got lots of negative publicity when he visited hollywood. whether he might have wished now that the convention was in north carolina there's now another question. i don't think they thought when they picked north carolina for the site of the convention that they expected this issue to be decided for it to change so fast. >> that's one of the problems when you are president. >> well, you certainly have to take on and take advantage of things that arise. right? you have to turn them to your advantage. one might say that the convention being in north carolina is another opportunity to address the issue. but just getting to the point you were almost -- you were just verging on making i am wondering tonight at this big fundraiser at george clooney's house, i am wondering whether you think it presents an image problem, less connected to average voters or somehow, you know, the celebrity in chief.

>> we have already seen in past campaigns the attack that he is a celebrity and the obvious line of the campaign has been used by governor romney former governor romney over and over that he is european, that he spends too much time in the faculty lounge which are polite ways of saying he is different from us that he is not one of us. and the celebrity problem is likely to be much smaller now that he is president than it was last time but still, it does suggest he is not really connected to the roots of the tun employed or the hard-working people that he needs to keep him in office. >> well, if you look back, you dial back how has presidents used celebrities or their own celebrity in the past as they campaigned for re-election?

>> i was tickled to see in the research for the book when harry truman was make or break in the state of california he stood up there for the pledge of allegiance with lauren bacall and ronald reagan next to him as the two most important symbols of his liberalism in hollywood. there hasn't been -- the picture, i love that it was in the "l.a. times." that was still the case. it makes it cool to be with a candidate if you see people you think are cool support supporting him. nothing that the actors say about policy is going to matter to people. but the fact that they will wear the tee shirts can help a lot. >> that's exactly right. i mean it's sort of interesting that the republicans have sort of a b list group of celebrities and the a lists are all flocking now around the president. >> that's true. i think, you know, other than

like kidd rock a lot of the rock stars, they are hopefully on the democratic side. it's those little things, you wonder if that has a greater impact, as you say, than policy. >> well i don't think so, but i think it tells you something about where they fit in. i am not going to be very interested to see nascar drivers and what tee shirts they wear but many many americans in every state will. i don't particularly care to see what hulk hogan is wearing on his chirality but i would be very upset if george clooney and i were on other sides or meryl streep and i were on other sides. >> george cleanooney, in your book you talk about how incumbent campaigns aren't as nimble as challengers and it took the obama camp three days from when biden spoke out to when president obama sat down with

robin roberts. do you think that was a quick response for an incumbent? >> that's about as fast as an incumbent can do anything. i should note that when a gay act have theivist in the romney camp foreign policy camp was criticized, you will excuse the expression, put him in a closet. but when vice president biden went further, perhaps, than some people might have wanted the secretary -- other cabinet members chimed in and showed agreement than people at the whitehouse did. the president can't muzzle and speak with one voice from a war room. the war room of a campaign of an incumbent is a satellite. the mothership is the white house. it's the opposite in the challenger's campaign. >> challengers got certainly a bigger hurdle in terms of being able to have a media foot printing that's free. i am wondering from your

perspective. >> that's right. >> last question. what does a simple slogan of hope versus forward say about the message of reelection? >>? >> hope and change as w. said when senator obama became the president elect, he said it's a good slogan. i ran on change too. he said -- and he could have said, it's just a slogan because it's something that shows we are going to do things and we have hope and we have change but once you are president, you are more of the same, whether you like it or not. and he has to emphasize that little by little brick by brick, step by step. he is getting something done. you talked about that earlier when you talk about the jobs growth. >> well, i am glad you heard that. thank you, professor hopkins for jumping inside the war room. you've obviously got some great

insight into this election and reelection. >> that's samuel popkin author of "the candidate: what it takes top win the white house." the right has responded to the pom's landmark statement on gay marriage and then later, brett erlich takes an historical view on mitt romney. >> you will never believe this. mitt romney has an all new threshold the history channel. you have got to give him credit jennifer speaks truth to power. >>the bottom line is we need an amendment. >>now it's your turn. connect with "the war room" jennifer granholm. >>it's a call to arms. make your voice heard. it's gonna be a casual thing. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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fun... indulgence... one square inch of bliss. hershey's bliss. >>now let's get some real news. (vo) first, news and analysis with a washington perspective from an emmy winning insider. >>you couldn't say it any more powerfully than that. >> current tv, on the roll.

(vo)followed by humor and politics with a west coast edge. >>ah, thank you. >>it really is incredible. (vo)bill press and stephanie miller, current's morning news block. weekdays six to noon. >> that's rush limbaugh. i think it's three, four marriages. i guess it's four. maybe after three, you get the fourth one for free. whatever. so rush is suggesting obama's announcement is part of some big gay conspiracy getting shoved into his face. rush is certainly one of the most colorful but not the only republican criticizing the president's behold remarks. here to discuss the right-wing

demonization of president obama is eric bowler, a senior fellow at media matters for america, a progressive media watchdog. he joins us tonight from new york city. eric, thanks for coming inside the war room. >> thank you for having me. >> you bet. so eric is a big gay conspiracy behind president obama's decision to come out in favor of gay marriage? >> well, no matter what president obama does there is also a conspiracy if you listen to rush limbaugh for more than 15 years or watch fox news for more than half an hour. the fallback position is that of the left wig conspiracy. of course there was no conspiracy. if you read the reporting, the white house didn't really want to talk about it this week yet. they might have been pushed into it. so no, i mean obviously this has been a topic that's been discussed for 15 years and certainly for the last three or four years. and as obama has been in. so look. you know rush limbaugh will blame a conspiris see on anything.

he was particularly haste of talking about his war on marriage. rush limbaugh has to fill three hours and fox news has to tell their viewers what they want to here honestly if you listen closely, there seemed to be a lot of heavy lifting to try to get this full outrage off of the ground yesterday. >> well, it's interesting, the reaction from the right on a variety of things. and there was, i want to ask you about a different story. there is a showtory that was in the washington post today that alleges that at his michigan boarding school or michigan school mitt romney forcibly and repeatedly cut the hair of a fellow student with long hair who was being bull ishlingd or presumably gay. so here is mitt romney talking about that incident on fox news today. >> you heard the story. you know the story is out there. any comment on it? >> well first of all, i had no idea what that individual's sexual orientation might be. going back to the 1960s, that

wasn't something we all discussed or considered. so that simply is just not accurate. i don't recall the incident myself. but i have seen the reports, and i am not going to argue with that. there is no question but that i did some stupid things when i was in high school. and obviously, if i hurt anyone by virtue of that i would be very sorry for it and apologize for it. >> have you heard from any of the -- i know the then teenager in question died in 2004. but have you heard from any of the ones who might have participated in this with you? >> no. i haven't. >> so this was an uncomfortable story to read even though of course it was a long time ago. >> yes. >> i am wondering from your perspective, does this story have legs? >> i don't think we will be talking about it. i think it was very damaging for the romney campaign. they told the washington post, you know romney didn't remember it but five of his classmates

did. let's talk about the right-wing reaction. the right-wing bloggers went bonkers on this story even though no one questioned any of the accuracy of this story. they went bonkers. they said it was a hit job because the washington post is a very detailed report on mitt romney's youth. these are the same right-wing conservative activists who scream and yell that the press never vetted obama, they never wrote about his youth. but they did of course. but now, when the washington post does a completely accurate above-board, fully quoted, on the record story about mitt romney's youth, it's a hit piece. you can't have it both ways. if you are going to run for president, your youth is going to be reported on. >> that's not surprising. >> it is. it's hard to ferret this out because it was such a long time ago? >> yeah. >> you wonder how much of that is relevant today. he was holding somebody down as they are apparently crying and cutting their hair. >> it's not a frank. >> that's not a prank. >> right.

when you said the right-wing is going bonkers, what do you mean by that? what are they saying? >> it's a hit job. it was in coordination with the white house. don't they have anything better to report on than mitt romney's youth? you know why can't we talk about the economy? you know this is the same excuse they used for the, you know, the gay marriage story. well, it's a distraction. you know as if rush limbaugh wants to hold a seminar on the economy, as if the conservative media wants to talk about media issues. look last week they were talking about obama's college girlfriend. a couple of weekends ago, they were talking about slow jamming the news. a couple of weeks ago, they were talking about the girl scouts. they can't be serious for 10 minutes. so let's not pretend anyone is distracting them from talking about serious issues. >> eric is your organization going to follow up on that story? >> well, we will monitor. you know we monitor the press really. we are monitoring the far right reaction. we are going to make note of this, you know incredible do you believe standard.

you have to right about the obama's youth but nobody can write about mitt romney's youth. it doesn't work that way. >> eric thank you for coming inside the war room. there is lots to follow up on the media side and the substances of what's happening, eric boehlert of media matters. we will crash george clooningey's big bash in l.a. tonight. you will not want to miss this. vaccinations save lives. >>we are very committed to the safety of our products. >>but are mandatory shots doing more harm than good? >>i see children injured every day. >>the controversy has gone viral. >>how many are being sacrificed? >>see "the greater good" on current tv. >>and while you watch, join the live chat at current.com/greatergood. >>our system is not working. >>there are always some risks. >>i don't think it's that back and white. the science is not there. >>only on current tv.

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of the "hollywood reporter" joining us from los angeles with the latest. matt, welcome into the war room. >> thank you very much governor. >> i was just learning that we were going to have you on a little bit earlier and you were late because of the president's mottorcade? >> obama has caused me to be late, but yes. >> let me get to the heart of the clooney thing. is the mood of the party going to be ebullient in light of president obama's support of same-sex marriage? >> this announcement has en energgized the democratic base here in hollywood like nothing since obama's first run for president. it is amazing. you know the short time since the announcement you have seen people coming out of the woodwork wanting to throw fundraisers, wanting to throw money at the president. this is really turning into like a coronation tonight. >> the creator of g"glee," ryan

murphy one of the most high-profile gay activists in hollywood has said he is going to be throwing a fundraising dinner for obama in june and, last night, norman lear who is another one of the most prominent democratic activists here in los angeles, who has sort of been sitting on the sidelines and says he was disappointed obama had not realized a lot of the promise. he said, yes, i am maxtion amount giving the maximum amount of money. he is much more active. others are going to follow. >> take us inside the clooney event to the best of your knowledge. what hollywood superstars are going to be there tonight? >> well, we know that obviously george clooney who is hosting and thelma hyatt, jack black, eddie murphy robert downy, jr. >> robert downy, jr. is going to be there and i am not there?

what's up with this? sorry. go ahead. >> in addition there is also a lot of behind-the-steins scenes players, studio heads there, the heads of two of the major hollywood talent agencies are going to be there. they are very important because they mobilize a lot of the stars because they all, you know, are represented by talent agencies. it is going to be a powerplayer evening there. >> do you think there is anybody that we might be surprised to learn is there? >> you know, that's a good question. i think that when people think about hollywood activists, they tend to think of the clooney type that are very out spoken and go to events and put themselves out there. someone like jack black that i don't think people think of as a political person he is actually. someone like will ferrell who you don't think of as a very political person because he is a broad comedian. i am not sure he is going to be there tonight. the director a.j.abrams are

democratic act visits directed "star trek" and co-created "lost," people that you don't often see are often the biggest donors. >> this party is a contest in terms of who got to go. there were two real people and their spouses who won a chance to be there. who are the real people? >> yeah, the interesting thing about this, it's sort of an ingenious fundraising move. they generated money by selling tickets to the dinner but that's only part of the story. the vast majority of the money that's being raised to be according to sources we talked to is coming from a lottery that's been held where people could bid or submit money for the chance to be selected to sit at clooney's table at this fundraiser and two women have been selected both from the east coast, both married. they have been selected and are being flown out as the winners. >> with their spouses? >> with their spouses.

>> they are chagrined. >> one other quick question, do you think we are ever going to see any photos from the party? i am sure that, you know paparazzi are banned but will we see pictures? >> i think they will release. there is a pool reporter in there tonight who happens to be the "new york times" reporter. so this will be a report from inside the event. i am not sure whether photos are going to come out or not. i think probably yes. i mean i think the obama campaign realizes that this is a big promotional opportunity for them. you know they made this big announcement. they have got all of this support. i would not be surprised if photos started coming out of this event. >> wow. i appreciate you giving us a little flavor of it. >> that's mat belloni of "the hollywood reporter." next, we are going to take a look at what's working at getting college graduates to work, back to work. this is the war room. you will find it only on current tv.

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>> all right, now to our what's working segisment where we look at solutions to america's biggest problems and one huge problem is youth upemployment. a pretty bleak picture is painted forunder grads of the student wos graduated between 2006-to 2,011 yrk half are worging full-time and 56% have student death. we are looking at one organization that addresses the issues of unemployment and employment and student debt and doing great things for the world ameri corps is a government funded program and & they get help with student loans and it sounds wonderful and important and necessary. and unfortunately paul ryan wants to defund it

significantly, even though the presidents from bill clinton to george bush have support ised it. take a look. >> so when i was leaving and george w. bush was coming in, the only thing i asked him to do was preseven americorps. and he did. >> for more on this really important story we turn to wendy spencer, the ceo of the agency that overseas americorps. and a former member here in san francisco. both of you, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> you bet. so, full disclosure, vitwo daughters who have worked and i will a big fan of emericorps. for those who don't know about it, give us the elevator pitch so everybody knows what it does.

>> great. thank you for having me. it is a great opportunity for people to serve in local organizations in their communities, habitat for humanity, boys and girls schools, working disasters. our young people love to help because they really see what a difference they can make to suris viefers. it provides opportunities to serve in non-profits and chairpts and faith-based organizations so they can get things done for america in their communitys. >> give me a sense of how big it is in terms of the number of people who want to be part of it and those who get in. >> well, there is about 80,000 opportunities for slot to be made available. last year we had 582,000 applications to join. that's up from three years ago where we saw 360,000p

indications. the demand to join is great. eur college students, those graduating from high school and others are interested in serving our country. it's also a great way to gain skills and can help theme in the fiewt juror absolutely. how has the experience been for you. >> yeah, it was, you know, after college i did a couple other jobs and i just didn't know what to do with myself. i wanted to be involved in the community but i needed to make money because i was on my own since then. the experience was fantastic. i worked at a local organization and we get people involved in the community. i got the chance to do that on various different levels. >> my girls have loved they have been in inner city schools. what has been great for them is the structure the organization provides including leadership training and all of that.

it's so fantastic. how has the recession impacted young people? i assume this caused a big number of people to sign up. >> yeah. i think the recession has really made it clear to people that you really have to be confident in yourself and really go after what you want to do. while still making money so you can sustain your life. i think ameri. corps balances both of those and helps people give back to their community and young people really see that as an opportunity, especially now. >> at great. wendy, talk about what you make of the efforts to cut the funding. >> well, you know, i do see a lot of -- have seen it with governors like you and others and i see it in mayors and leaders across the country and

we need great support. my jobberiesently seeing this firsthand that it's so important, my job is to make the case for americorps and service and make the case it's good for lock local community organizations for habitat for humanity and our schools co stake holders see firsthand the difference it is making in communities. i have had the experience that once i show a leader firsthand the impact it is having, they say wow, this is important. and what's great about it is it is matched with non-federal dollars. over 300 million invested just last year in community service fuppeds. that's important. our foundations and businesses and local fundraisers are supporting it as well. >> it's a tremendously financed program, really a wrap around effort on that.

i'm wondering wendy, if you can still hear me, how can people get involved? this is your pitch to the world to say how can people get involved. >> americorps.goff. you can go straight to an application and look for a local community organization to enroll members. the best way right now is to go on-line and let us know you are interested and we'll see if we can find you an opportunity. >> we want to serve our country and you can serve in the military and serve right here at home. thank you guys for canning on. that's the ceo wendy spencer and former member and great leader tessa headstrom. of next mitt romney's casual relationship in the troops in a historicical context. you are watching the war room on current tv.

>>we tackle the big issues here in our nation's capital.

so, you guys grew up together. yes, since third grade... what are you lookin' at? not looking at i anything... we're not good enough for you. must be supermodels? what do you model gloves? brad, eat a snickers. why? 'cause you get a little angry when you're hungry. better? [ male announcer ] you're not you when you're hungry™. better. [ male announcer ] snickers satisfies. >>the gavin newsom show is a search engine for solutions, and that's the focus. we want to focus on solutions and ways of bringing people together. that's the only way we're going to solve the world's great vexing problems.

>> way back at the beginning of this week, mitt romney claimed credit for bailing out the auto industry. i thought it would end there but according to brett erlich, that's just the beginning. shhh! bretts talking now >> everyone is irate at mitt romney for taking credit for the auto industry bail-out. wait until they see the history channel segment: >> this sunday mitt romney: i will take a lot of credit. 1994, mitt romney runs for u.s. senate. three years later, barack obama rungs for state senate. copy cat. barack obama becoming a politician. >> i will take a lot of credit. >> 1991, a jogging mitt romney says see. a decade later:

>> i will take a lot of credit. >> 1986, romney, sure. >> i will take a lot of credit. 1879, the light bulb thomas edison, the idea for using a light bulb when someone has an idea? >> i will take a lot of credit. >> 1446, b.c., was it the burning bush that inspired moses? or was it? >> 0, that's right: >> i will take a lot of credit. >> this sunday at 9:00 p.m., when it comes to great ideas, history is 100% mitt. i will take a lot of credit. >> all right. well, thank you all for joining